Ultrasound diagnostic device

Abstract

A diagnostic coordinate system has first through third axes based on a major axis and a minor axis of a follicle, the origin being the position of the center of gravity of the follicle. The diagnostic coordinate system is translated with respect to an XYZ display coordinate system, rotating the diagnostic coordinate system until the first axis corresponding to the major axis of the follicle overlaps the X-axis where the angle with the first axis is smallest, and rotating until the second axis corresponding to the minor axis of the follicle overlaps the Z-axis where the angle with the second axis is smallest. A tomographic image of the follicle is formed by an image in a plane that includes the Z and X axes, an image in a plane that includes the Y and Z axes, and an image in a plane that includes the X and Y axes.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising:
 a probe which transmits and receives ultrasound to and from a diagnostic region;   a transmitting and receiving unit which controls the probe to obtain a reception signal from the diagnostic region;   a target identifying unit which identifies image data of a diagnosis target in image data of the diagnostic region formed based on the reception signal;   a coordinate system setting unit which sets, based on the image data of the diagnostic target, a diagnostic coordinate system based on a form of the diagnosis target;   a coordinate system matching unit which matches with each other a display coordinate system forming a basis of a display image and the diagnostic coordinate system, to place the image data of the diagnosis target in the display coordinate system; and   a display image forming unit which forms a display image of the diagnosis target based on the image data of the diagnosis target placed in the display coordinate system.   
     
     
         2 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the coordinate system setting unit sets the diagnostic coordinate system including, as a coordinate axis, a reference axis identified according to the form of the diagnosis target, and   the coordinate system matching unit overlaps one coordinate axis of the display coordinate system and the reference axis with each other, to match the display coordinate system and the diagnostic coordinate system with each other.   
     
     
         3 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein
 the coordinate system setting unit sets the diagnostic coordinate system including, as a coordinate axis, a major axis identified along a longitudinal direction of the diagnosis target, and   the coordinate system matching unit overlaps one coordinate axis of the display coordinate system and the major axis with each other.   
     
     
         4 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the coordinate system setting unit sets the diagnostic coordinate system including, as the coordinate axis and in addition to the major axis of the diagnosis target, a minor axis orthogonal to the major axis, and   the coordinate system matching unit overlaps one coordinate axis of the display coordinate system and the major axis with each other, and overlaps with each other another coordinate axis of the display coordinate system and the minor axis.   
     
     
         5 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the coordinate system matching unit overlaps with each other a coordinate axis, of the plurality of coordinate axes of the display coordinate system, having a smallest angle with respect to the major axis, and the major axis.   
     
     
         6 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein
 the coordinate system matching unit overlaps with each other a coordinate axis, of the plurality of coordinate axes of the display coordinate system, having a smallest angle with respect to the major axis, and the major axis.   
     
     
         7 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the coordinate system setting unit sets a diagnostic coordinate system obtained by a primary component analysis based on the image data of the diagnosis target.   
     
     
         8 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the coordinate system setting unit sets a diagnostic coordinate system including, as a coordinate axis, a major axis of the diagnosis target obtained by a primary component analysis based on the image data of the diagnosis target.   
     
     
         9 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein
 the coordinate system setting unit sets a diagnostic coordinate system including, as coordinate axes, a major axis and a minor axis of the diagnosis target obtained by a primary component analysis based on the image data of the diagnosis target.   
     
     
         10 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the coordinate system setting unit sets a diagnostic coordinate system including, as a coordinate axis, a major axis of the diagnosis target obtained by a primary component analysis based on the image data of the diagnosis target, and   the coordinate system matching unit overlaps with each other a coordinate axis, of the plurality of coordinate axes of the display coordinate system, having a smallest angle with respect to the major axis, and the major axis.   
     
     
         11 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein
 the coordinate system setting unit sets a diagnostic coordinate system including, as coordinate axes, a major axis and a minor axis of the diagnosis target obtained by a primary component analysis based on the image data of the diagnosis target, and   the coordinate system matching unit overlaps with each other a coordinate axis, of the plurality of coordinate axes of the display coordinate system, having a smallest angle with respect to the major axis, and the major axis.   
     
     
         12 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the probe transmits and receives the ultrasound to and from the diagnostic region including a plurality of follicles which are in close contact to each other, and   in the image data of the diagnostic region including the plurality of follicles, the target identifying unit:   applies an erosion process on the plurality of follicles to separate the plurality of follicles into each individual follicle;   applies a labeling process on the plurality of follicles in the image data to which the erosion process is applied, to assign different labels to the plurality of follicles;   applies a dilation process on each of the plurality of the follicles in the image data to which the labeling process is applied, to restore sizes of the plurality of the follicles while assigning the label of each follicle to a dilation portion obtained from the follicle; and   identifies, in the image data, the image data of each follicle having the size restored as the image data of the diagnosis target.   
     
     
         13 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein
 the target identifying unit restores the sizes of the plurality of follicles while a boundary is formed in an overlap portion between dilation portions which overlap each other due to the dilation process.   
     
     
         14 . The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein
 the target identifying unit repeatedly executes an erosion process to stepwise erode the plurality of follicles n times (where n is a natural number), and repeatedly executes a dilation process to stepwise dilate the plurality of follicles n times.   
     
     
         15 . An ultrasound image processor comprising:
 a target identifying unit which identifies image data of a diagnosis target in ultrasound image data;   a coordinate system setting unit which sets, based on the image data of the diagnosis target, a diagnostic coordinate system based on a form of the diagnosis target;   a coordinate system matching unit which matches with each other a display coordinate system forming a basis of a display image and the diagnostic coordinate system, to place the image data of the diagnosis target in the display coordinate system; and   a display image forming unit which forms a display image of the diagnosis target based on the image data of the diagnosis target placed in the display coordinate system.